Seekers M.V.P?

Another year another SAQ meeting, at this point in the game it was too late to back out of being the leader, but Christian sure was getting tired of his position. He barely thought of a topic his first year and it only got harder from there. His last meeting had been based solely on his depressed thoughts and that didn't go over well either. This year he decided not to think about it too much, so he didn't. This one was also a personal one but not as personal, this one was based off his own quidditch team. Everyone had talked about it throughout the season now it was time to see what everyone thought.

"Alright everyone, welcome to another year of SAQ. In case you're brain dead and forgot or you're new I'm Christian D'Angelo, Captain Christian D'Angelo on the pitch. Anyways, today I thought we would talk about something that has affected my team this year. Seekers." He said with a pause looking around to see if anyone understood yet. "More specifically are seekers the most valuable player on the pitch? Does the seekers actions make or break a game for their team?" He asked. "Any ideas?" With that he released the floor to his club members and hoped this one would be a bit more controversy or at least didn't have everyone agreeing.

Marie-Laure was beginning to question her wisdom in choosing to join SAQ. Most of the topics were a little dry and quite frankly far too easy to figure out what was the most sensible answer. She needed a challenge and she'd found nothing. Why couldn't there be a club more challenging than this at Beauxbatons?

She sat back with a sigh as she waited for the meeting to begin. Then came the moment when Christian spoke and Marie-Laure's heart sank. Of all the things he had to choose to talk about it had to be something which reminded her of the recent humiliating game. It was obvious what the answer was. "Of course they make or break the game. One hundred and fifty points at the right time will win you the game which happens in most matches. If they catch it at the wrong time it's too late." She may not have known about the game for long but Marie-Laure had read enough about it to know that what happened in that last match was a very rare occurrence. One team ahead of the other by 160 points or more and it won't matter who catches the snitch. That didn't mean they weren't the most valued player. It was the timing of it which counted.

Osmund was always supportive of Christian's position in QAC, especially when it came to meetings, but he had to admit he was a bit ridiculed when his friend mentioned the events that had led to his own team's most shameful loss. He sunk down in his seat some when Christian explained the premise and waited for an opening to say his part.

"Timing does matter. But I wonder what quidditch would be like without the seeker." his posed question may or may not have been inspired by the words of the younger announcer, who believed Montagnard's seeker was more fit for the job of captain than he was. "The seeker almost makes it so that the points that the chasers score are useless, for chasers can score up into the low hundred and still lose if the opposite team catches the snitch. But if the seeker isn't there at all, then everything depends on the chasers scoring and the keepers keeping and the beaters getting the quaffle into the hands of their chasers. So really, how important is the seeker?"

Marie-Laure could hardly believe what her team captain was proposing. She'd often had the thought that the seeker really wasn't needed. There were other ways of ending a game. A timer for instance, the way most sports were done, would end it. To hear Hollow suggest it though was a bit of a shock.

"Well it's obvious with the current rules the seeker is very important," she returned. "If we got rid of the seeker then the skill of the chasers and keeper would play a much larger role than they currently do." She thought of another way which that could happen. "What if the snitch wasn't worth as many points as it currently is? We could still have the games end when the snitch is caught but at least the scores made by the chasers have a higher chance of counting and you don't need to find another method of ending the game." Of course it'd never happen not when the sport had been around for centuries with the rules unchanged.

Christian was glad to see that the members were getting much more talkative with this topic. Of course they were still agreeing with each other for the most part but at least they were suggesting new things and adding something new to the conversation with each person. He had to admit he agreed with them for the most part because he did think it was ridiculous that no matter how hard he tried most of the time his scoring didn't count for much. He wasn't sure what more he could say at this point to continue the discussion but then he thought of something.

"How much professional quidditch do you all watch? If you are looking at this based solely on our teams this might seem cut and dry. In professional quidditch its the seekers job to not just look for the snitch but to keep the other one from looking, there are numerous tactics to distract or confuse the other seeker that ours simply do not use. Also beaters in professional quidditch tend to aim for the seekers more than say the keepers." He said trying to continue the discussion. That last comment was mostly from watching the Montagnard's take down his keeper more often than not. While he did think the points of the snitch should be less he did think that in professional quidditch the other players tried to delay the seekers to give chasers longer to score.

"I've never watched a professional game in my life," Marie-Laure said. "But I don't need to watch a game to know that'd be the best strategy. I've read enough books to have some idea of the strategies out there which we don't always use in our games." Some of which she believed her captain should consider trying. Of course that wouldn't have helped in the last game considering Cerisier's current seeker was a rubbish player.

Thinking on the last game, there was something in the suggestion by the leader which did give Marie-Laure some trouble. "Well then maybe they should focus on all the players. Weren't there some professional games where a team lost despite the seeker catching the snitch?" That didn't change the fact the snitch was often the reason for winning but the professionals had to be a little faulty if they only went after the seeker. The seekers distracting each other was different. That was the way it should be between them.